| review | new ideas |
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Why is this important? Why would we want to think this way? Well... This page is simply a review of some of the important ideas within the text prompted by the attempted conversational tone of the discussions. These "why" questions, so often found as the first line of a new page, so often contain the "golden rules" of the theoretical aspects of the popular American sounds. At least as they are understood and by the author.
1) History / theory of equal temper. By knowing a bit about about the organic and historical origins our of present day resource we gain the ability to view our musical system as a whole entity. Thus as our ears "evolve" in their ability to recognize musical elements, we have a intellectual structure in place so as to organize these sounds and aural colors. What we gain from this is an artistic palette of musical resources from which we can create our own works of art.
2) Loops of pitches. Although these ideas and musical examples might be a new for you, the basic principal that there are "loops" within the equal tempered system helps to provide a bit of perspective to the beginning theorist. That the system we are beginning to examine is in one sense finite. There are in theory only so many scales, pitches, chords etc., and that these groupings of pitches will loop upon themselves is an important principle of the equal tempered system. This is a handy tool for insuring that our theoretical explorations are correct. For like mathematical problems, our theory explorations will always close upon themselves, ensuring that the principles we have applied to the elements that we are working with have been successfully "crunched down." The cool thing is that the equal tempered system is probably as near to perfect in its mathematical symmetry as any ever devised by humankind. And if we think of the myriad of different musical work created with this system for the last 500 years or so, the results are pretty astounding. Please realize that the full spectrum of music we hear on the radio today, from blues to Jazz to rock. Hip hop, folk and European and American classical music are all created from the same musical system. Each style has it’s own characteristic "loops" if you will that to a certain degree define the genre and the era in which it was created. We will encounter these loops as we move up in complexity through the music theory and use this "looping" component to facilitate the learning and organization of the musical resources. So perhaps a finite quantity of musical resources with a limitless number of combinations, driven by our own individual imaginations? Cool?
3) Chord type. Why, initially to simplify learning the theory. Later on so as to gain a deeper sense of chord substitution, reharmonization of melodic line and arranging for various groups of instruments. By thinking in terms of "chord families" or "chord type" for that matter, we can learn one set of theory principles and apply them to any chord within the family. In this case "any chord" becomes like C major 7, Gb major 7, Bb major 9 etc., the minor colors and the tritone containing dominant 7th chord type.
4) Scale degrees. Depending on your artistic directions, thorough knowledge of each of the degrees of the major scale and how they relate to one another becomes one of the principle elements in developing one's ability to create musical tension and control it's release. When we listen to the Jazz masters, this is one thing that they all do especially well. The concept of scale degree can eventually evolve into being cool with the numbers. Here we simply correlate pitches to numbers based on the idea of key center.
5) Interval studies / major scale. The interval studies help one become thoroughly acquainted with their chosen instrument, help to develop the necessary facility for the execution of musical phrases, strengthen one's ear and in and of themselves provide quite a bit of improvisational melodic resource.
6) Cycle of fifths. Understanding the relationship between the 12 pitches of equal temper as organized by the interval of the 5th helps in organizing the resources in such a way as to aurally understand so much of what we hear in the American sounds. With so much of the common American harmonic motions based on this cycle, knowledge of the cycle of fifths becomes an ideal initial format for shedding the resources. The gradual shifting of tonal center color / key signature is built right into the cycle, which when viewed as a picture, also provides a sense of the "distance" of one key center from another.
7) Musical intervals. The study of musical intervals is simply a way to measure the musical distance between pitches. And by doing so, we gain a way to label the emotional qualities we engender when we create or hear the various possibilities. The musical intervals could one way be viewed as the "nuts and bolts" structure of the musical sounds we love.
8) To correlate musical style with theoretical complexity. This one idea is perhaps the most important in this text, depending on a readers needs and perspective. What this idea unlocks is the ability for the artist to "morph" from one style into another by gradually adding and recombining musical elements. Why would we want to do this? Well, what if a folk artist needs to express a blue mood in their creations. Might they borrow from the Blues style? Are these colors normally within the folk vocabulary? What if a softer tonic color is desired? Perhaps to look towards the jazz colors? The reverse is equally true. A jazz artist wanting a folk quality might reduce the complexity of their elements, setting the initial tone of the piece in a folk environment and then expanding from there etc. Cool?
9) Make the bar lines go away. What? You mean those lines between measures in written music? Yep. Go away, as in smooth the groove? Absolutely.
Necessary to think these ways? Nope. A searching artist will find their elements regardless of the obstacles. You know, those things we see when we take our eyes off our goal ...
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"The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary." Anonymous